Mental health, OCD, people trying to manipulate you, your husband leaves you, the pull of social media and trying to be a loving mother- that sums up this book- that’s a lot going on in The Perfect Mother.

I give this book 3.5 stars. The story premise was good. There was a lot of moving parts to this book. When I thoughtI had a conclusion, the plot twists yet again. The story line is about a mother named Laurie, who comes home one night to her 4 year old daughter and husband, only to realize her husband was gone.

*SPOILER ALERT*

I don’t think I can review this book without giving a way a little bit of spoilers. The reason whyI gave this book 3.5 stars is I didn’t really care about the Laurie. I understand she has mental health problems, but I just wanted to get into the storyline myself and wiggle some sense back into her. Despite having massive OCD, she also was not confident in herself (or as a mother), she didn’t stand up for herself, she allowed Marissa to use her and talk to her however she wanted and allowed others to make decisions/answers for her. So many times during the book I kept thinking- why are you still there??? But I guess that’s what made the book a page turner- you just have to figure out how it ended. It’s also pretty sad how this story depicts the true lives of social media “influencers”. I get it, and I see those that are living a lie to get that extra “follower”... but to what extent? That’s what our society has come to.

Again, the story plot was good. I enjoyed how it ended. I just was not invested in the characters and wanted the story to end already to end her suffering. Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book!

This book was different than what I was expecting, in a good way. I admit that I didn't read any synopsis of the book beforehand, and assumed it was a book about a Mom worrying that she wasn't as good as a mother as she'd hoped she'd be, and I was partially correct but it was also so much more.
When Ben first disappeared (Spoiler alert) I thought maybe he did up and leave his family.

When Teddy was introduced and then Marissa, I instantly felt like they had something to do with his disappearance, and I wasn't wrong.

The story itself was good. As someone who suffers from anxiety and OCD like tendencies, I related a lot to main character of this book. I really started to dislike Teddy when he suggested Laurie stop see her psychiatrist, and then stop taking her medication. I could tell her was trying to control her.

I didn't anticipate the book ending like it did, but I was surprisingly happy with it. Overall, a pretty good read.

Y’all this one was absolutely intense! I did not want to stop reading. My first book by Jo Crow was a success!!

I enjoyed this book. The social media aspect was interesting. I’ll admit that something about it seemed a bit “dumb” or “slow”. Actually I believe that the lead character seemed that way, at times. You just want to shake her occasionally. I mean, she’s a grown woman that’s been diagnosed with OCD & must have some PTSD from her assault in college & her new BF (a school counselor) instructs her to stop taking all her prescribed medications “for him”. So she does. Huh?? It was nice, light reading & draws you in from beginning to end. Not a “hang on the edge of your seat” ride but still interesting.

That was both a lot of fun and another reminder (in case you needed it) of the dangers of social media, but not in the usual sense. The story opens with Laurie, mother of 4 year old Fay and wife of Ben. To say Laurie is a worry-wart is a gross understatement, she she has raging OCD which gets worse when she is stressed. And she is very stressed now. When she gets home from an evening photography class Ben is not at home. She cannot believe he left their daughter unattended. Not only that, it seems Ben was massively in debt.

Some time later, she is helping out at Ben’s bakery as he still hasn’t turned up and she sees an old friend from college, Terry. Terry remarks on the framed photos on the walls of the bakery, all taken by Laurie, and mentions that his sister Marissa, whom Laurie also knew at college, is looking for a photographer for her social media influencer business. Since there is still no Ben but a mountain of debts that he left behind Laurie eventually agrees to take the job and moves to Milwaukee to take up the position. Marissa sweeps all before her and soon has Laurie moved into her mansion and Fay featured in many of the social media ‘shoots’. Laurie is not sure about all this, Fay is only 4 and doesn’t yet realise that Disney princesses are not real. But Fay is so happy, and Terry begins almost courting Laurie. Could all her problems be over???

Unfortunately no, they are only just beginning. Look, I thought Laurie was quite annoying at the start of the book but she soon grew on me and I DO understand that OCD can be crippling for some people. Still by 60% I had no idea where this was going but it was obvious it was going somewhere quite fishy. Things just didn’t seems quite right. For example why was Terry so keen to be in the public spotlight? From that point on tension mounted inexorably until - well, you’ll have to read that for yourselves. Was it a perfect story? No, by the time I got the end I knew how it would go. But it was a lot of fun, well written, with realistic characters and some people you just love to hate. I enjoyed reading it and am going to have a look for Jo Crow’s next book.

An interesting story. I did not love the character of Laurie and cringed at her continual questionable decision making. If you do not have to like a character to enjoy the book, this would be a good read.

I read this book as an ARC via NetGalley voluntarily in exchange for an honest review. The following review is a reflection of my opinion and experience reading the book.

I want to start off by saying that this book was a real struggle to get through for a number of reasons. It deals with a lot of intense topics such as sexual assault, child and domestic abuse, kidnappings, and compulsions. This book is a psychological thriller so it wasn’t unexpected, but it was just a lot. I didn’t think that these topics were handled with the amount of grace that I would have wanted, especially in relation to sexual assault. I feel like the depiction could have been more sensitive and respectful for readers, and that it shouldn’t have been used in a plot device in that way.

I found the pacing to be a bit off. It seemed like so much happened at the beginning, then for about 60% of the book nothing much happened. There were so many time skips and we didn’t get the chance to get close to the characters in the way I would have wanted to — especially for a psychological thriller. It then went really fast at the end, and it was like I was hit with a killer case of whiplash. Genuinely no idea where all of that plot came from in the last 15% of the book.

I also believe that part of my aversion to this novel was the fact that I don’t care for domestic stories all that much. Especially with kids — it leaves a sour taste in my mouth most of the time. I didn’t find myself rooting for any character in particular, and I found most of them really bland and two dimensional. I sometimes felt as though certain representations through Laurie were there as a token gesture for diversity’s sake and an afterthought. This really rubbed me the wrong way.

Overall, I’d say that this book wasn’t for me for a number of reasons, all of which I listed above.

One night, Ben and Laurie have a small argument before Laurie leaves for her photography class. When she returns home, her life will be forever changed. She finds that Ben is missing and their 4 year old, Fay, is in the house alone. Laurie has severe OCD and the added stress of a missing husband has a maddening effect on her. Wound tight and ready to snap, she discovers that her husband was deeply in debt and close to losing both their house and their business. At the end of her rope, a face from her past comes to her with a too good to be true offer- become his influencer sister's full time photographer.
Marissa even offers her and her daughter a place to stay with an astronomical pay check attached so she jumps at the chance to start her and her daughter's lives over. However, she quickly becomes uncomfortable with the influencer life and suspects something is seriously wrong and there are some deep dark secrets going on.

Though Instagram is not new, it is not really a frequent plot point in books. I know a few "Instafamous" people and they really do talk about how they have to be "on" all the time to keep their followers, but this was a whole new layer of insane. It was one of those dark suspense stories that has you wondering what the hell you just read. I enjoyed it, but by now we should all know how I feel about suspense. I devour them, the crazier the better. And this one was pretty crazy.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my review.

My first time reading this author & it won't be my last. I really enjoyed this book & was genuinely surprised at the twists. Looking forward to reading more from this writer.

With enough twists and turns to keep your head spinning. You won't be able to keep up with this riveting thriller. Crackles with excitement. Happy reading!

A Perfect Mother, a psychological thriller with a social media twist. Social media feeds our need for attention and also our need to be liked. It is a way to twist reality, to make our imperfect life seem perfect. Laurie is a mother who tries her best at motherhood but she feels that she is not a good mother. Her husband seems to have a better relationship with their daughter Fay. Laurie went to her photography class one night and came home to find her daughter alone in the house, her husband nowhere to be found. He doesn't answer his phone and she realized a few of his things were missing. After weeks of her husband missing she ran into an old friend Teddy who introduced her to his sister Marissa , a famous Instagramer, who offered Laurie a job photographing her for her instagram account. Laurie and Fay moved into Marissa's house and Laurie soon realized things were not as perfect as they seemed at first. Laurie starts questioning Marissa's so called perfect instagram life and starts to dig for the truth. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and how it showed the effects of social media on our lives and how it can change the way we live.

A great book. Read within a few days. Will totally recommend this to others. Also will be looking out for other books by this author

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I just love Jo's books. This one kept guessing..what happened to her husband? Did he leave? Murdered? Didn't see the shocks at the end coming at all...

A PERFECT MOTHER
BY JO CROW

This was an utterly mesmerizing story of psychological suspense. The good kind--that grabs your attention and sucks you in on the very first page and never lets you go. Laurie comes home to find her husband Ben missing after her photography class at about 9:00 P.M. at night. Her fellow students had tried to get her to go out with them all and have a drink and Laurie says "no, maybe next time."

Laurie has a secret that she has been harboring since college.

When Laurie arrives home she is stunned and majorly unsettled to find her daughter four year old Fay asleep in her and her husband's Ben's bed all alone. This panics Laurie as she goes from room to room looking for Ben. Ben is nowhere to be found. Ben owns his own bakery called Frosted with an investor named Joseph. When Laurie calls the bakery she finds out nobody has seen Ben

Laurie is unsettled as she feels like she is being watched and to her chagrin notices a blue sedan creeping slowly past their house but the windows are tinted black and she can not see the driver. She snaps a picture with her camera and calls the police. The police are not much help. They tell her that Ben cannot be reported missing until he has been gone for 48 hours. She tells them that he left behind his wallet and passport. But since there are no signs of foul play the police don't really help.

Roseanne, Ben's mother is the only one Laurie can think to contact and Roseanne is alarmed since she knows her son loves his daughter Fay and he would never willingly leave Fay all alone with Laurie have been out. Meanwhile the blue sedan keeps showing up and moving slowly past Laurie and Ben's house and stopping out front until Laurie runs outside and pounds on the windows asking "Who are you," and it speeds away. Laurie's only friend Kaity from Boston receives a frantic call from Laurie and Kaitie gets on the next plane to come and stay with Laurie to help sort things out.

Laurie finds that Ben was having huge financial difficulties which he kept hidden from her with his bakery Frosted. Laurie tries to fill in for Ben working shifts at the bakery but discovers that the debt is so high that she has no choice but to sell Frosted and pay off the mountain of debt. What happened to Ben? Why would he leave or runaway and leave his wife or daughter? How is Laurie going to provide for Fay and herself with her freelance photography?

An old college friend named Teddy learns of Ben's disappearance and suggests to Laurie that his sister Marissa, who was also a friend of Laurie's from college is a celebrity Influencer for Instagram and needs a professional photographer like Laurie. Marissa offers Laurie the job and also offers that Laurie and Fay can live free in her home but that entails a move back to Milwaukee. Soon Laurie can't believe what good fortune has come her way. This is the answer to all of Laurie's problems. Little does Laurie know that her problems are just about to begin.

This was a very well written mystery and a psychological thriller. There is so much more that I have not included about Laurie's past and psychological affliction to keep from giving away spoilers. I really did enjoy this one. Laurie is a likable character and trying to be a good mother to Fay. When things seem too good to be true they usually are with this story. If you are looking for a very suspenseful page turner then you might want to give this one a try. You will be riveted and unable to put this book down once you start it. I hope to read more from this author who was very trendy and it was interesting to watch Marissa who has to keep every detail of her life photographed not looking staged. It adds to the story seeing how Marissa's husband Joseph is the same investor who was Ben's silent partner in Frosted.

Publication Date: March 6, 2020

Thank you to Net Galley, Jo Crow and Relay Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

A well written and interesting story. Dark and ominous at places. Good twists. All round a great psychological thriller.